Weather is cool right now in South Florida and looks to warm only slightly for the weekend. If it stays cool, expect to see the Andrew, Chip Alex and some others under the lap record for the Homestead Grand Am couse.

Unfortunately we are Group 4 so we would be running towards midday. Should be an interesting weekend. Car count is only in the mid 20's

HOWEVER - we have STU, T3, SSB SSC mixed with us

We need to request a SPLIT Start with a BIG GAP at the drivers meeting.

When you arrive at the track, ask the Chief Steward to move the STU cars to another group. When asked why, those that really want to do so, should tell him it is because you would like to enter STU and be able to qualify for the Runoffs in two classes. With a smaller STU field at Homestead, you will be able to pick up needed points. By qualifying for two classes at the Runoffs, you will have 3 more track sessions for the cost of a test day.

I'm leaving Sebring now heading to Homestead. If you need an annual, I'll be in the parking area and can take care of it for you this afternoon.
Posted by Drago (Member # 1406) on 01-13-201109:49 AM:

Hopefully they will get a split... I sent two 37 mm plates, would love to see the results Jim
Posted by Cajun Miata Man (Member # 1374) on 01-13-201101:20 PM:

quote:Originally posted by Drago:Hopefully they will get a split... I sent two 37 mm plates, would love to see the results Jim

See you guys in the AM Posted by Mike LL (Member # 16255) on 01-14-201108:52 PM:

Track was slow last week for Nasa also
Posted by Danny Steyn (Member # 7356) on 01-15-201106:45 PM:

Homestead National Race 1 is in the bag

Final Grid Charbonneau laid down a good lap in Q3 to earn the pole by a 1/10th. Final grid was Charbonneau, Steyn, Blanchard, Van Vurst

Race 1Thanks to Chief Steward Capt John Anderson, we had a split start with our own pace car, and our own green flag. A bit of confusion ensued on the out lap, but we had a clean start and Andrew led me into T1. Everyone got through cleanly, and the race was on. Chip was strong immediately and got passed me and onto Andrew’s tail. I was content to stay in the draft and nurse my tires, as the greasy conditions were going to be hard on the rubber. The three of us broke away from the group and worked together, building a decent lead. Then Chip and Andrew got racy, making moves on each other, plus some of the other class traffic got in the way, and soon we were all closing up.

This allowed Blanchard, Woytek, Bolanos, and Rollan to catch up, but they never really made contact. I suspect that there was some cooperation back there, but for the most part I suspect they were racing.

As we expected the draft was everything, making more than a 5mph difference coming into the braking zone at T1. Andrew and I both had shifting issues, and I believe his gearbox went bad.

I pushed Chip to the lead on the last lap, passing Charbonneau, and Chip and I stayed together through the infield, with Andrew losing a few critical car lengths. Coming out of T8, Chip was in the lead and the race was mine to win if I could time the draft-slingshot properly. I guess I screwed up because I missed by 15/1,000ths of a second. About 6”. I doubt that a race could have a closer finish. I will post a video of the last lap when I get a chance. Great that there was zero contact up at the front. Cannot comment on what happened behind me. I believe that Blanchard and Woytek had some contact.

Chip got the win, Steyn 2nd, Woytek 3rd and Andrew 4th. Followed by Blanchard, Bolanos, Naon and Sandlin. New 16 year old kid Selin Rollan ran in 5th place until he lost 3rd gear. Guess there will be a few gearbox refits going on tonight.

Track was very slimy and times were not the greatest. I had FRL at 1:39.857, more than a second off Chip’s lap record.

Thanks OPM Autosports for the great support, to Mike Rossini for the great engines he builds, and to Traqmate for their excellent data system.

Just got home from the Double at Homestead, and got my first real look at the 99's w/ open fuel and timing, IMHO I think it leveled the power of the field for all the 99 / 00 owners, and damn there was alot of them. I was surrounded by them all weekend like a swarm of "Vultures all jacked up on Mtn Dew" and my 1.6 was dinner.

All joking aside, Homestead Gr Am course demands drafting, you fall out of the draft your done, you dont have a willing partner to help, your done. You can be the fastest car there on the infield, it don't mean squat!! I think it would of been a 5,6 even 7 car race for the W , if we all listened to Rodney King 10 years ago.

Congrats to Andrew, Chip, Steyn and Bolanos. All of you deserved the win, but, Every race has to have 1 winner, you guys could of flipped a coin, it was that close, back and forth.

I had a great weekend trying to prove a point with the underdog car , Me and Jeffy will make a few changes and I'll try it again in a couple months, For now, I'm knocking the cob webbs off my 99 and going to join the Jacked up Vultures in Feb at Sebring for some much needed seat time.

Thanks to Jeffy and Corey with AutoTechnik Racing for all the help like usual, They do 1 hell of a job keepin my 1.6 up there with the big dogs... Posted by Drago (Member # 1406) on 01-17-201108:58 AM:

Congrats guys,sounds like a good weekend. Was pulling for my you tube posting buddy, but he let me down, AGAIN I was thinking seriously about hopping on a plane and heading down Friday night, but caught nasty cold on the way back from Sebring... I just couldn't make myself do it.

Congrats to Danny and Chipster. Next stop is Texas double for me as I have hardly no races in division anymore. 8 hours is my closest in division race. Then Atlanta. I hope all of this competition makes us all better at the Runoffs when it counts as wins won't be easy this year in the SE...

I wonder why the front running times weren't really any faster this year? Didnt we just get 5-6 hp power through timing and FP? Take a look at the times from Sebring and Homestead, they seem alsmost identical or slower for the most part? Some guys that were mid pack or unheard of are much closer to the front now, but same guys still up front. Go figure.. Posted by SAE113 (Member # 3426) on 01-17-201109:57 AM:

quote:Originally posted by Drago:I wonder why the front running times weren't really any faster this year? Didnt we just get 5-6 hp power through timing and FP? Take a look at the times from Sebring and Homestead, they seem alsmost identical or slower for the most part? Some guys that were mid pack or unheard of are much closer to the front now, but same guys still up front. Go figure..

Greetings from Johannesburg South Africa - you'll forgive the late post!

Sunday Qualifying Q4On Sunday morning I managed to nab the pole from Andrew, with help from Andrew. Everyone was faster than Saturdays Q2 session as the weather was a touch cooler, but the track surface was really slimy. Only Chip didn’t make the Q4 session and dropped to the 3rd row of the grid with the combined grid.

Sunday Race R2Once again we had a separate start about 30 seconds behind the T3, STU, SSB and SSC cars. Thanks to Capt. John and Bon Ricker the start was perfect, all in formation until the green. Everyone filed through T1 without contact. I led lap most of lap 1 but the Autotechnic team came charging through with Chip, Andrew and Bolanos bumper to bumper pushing their way past me like I was sitting still. I have never gone from 1st to 4th in less time! I was on the radio shouting to Tom and Tim that I needed a teammate!

Bolanos got to the front in Chains’ ‘99 and was driving especially well in the infield, but I could see he was being too aggressive on his tires, and with a 20 lap race, you really needed tires under you for the last 2 laps, as drive out of T8 would always be the most important issue.

As Cliffie said above, the draft was EVERYTHING. If you were in it, you were golden. If you were out of it, or they chose to push someone else, you were toast. You could drop back as much as 8-10 car lengths in the infield, but if you had a good run and were still in the draft, you would negate that deficit by the time everyone got on the brakes for T2.

About midway through the race, Bolanos fell off and while he closed the gap a few times with traffic, he was never really in the hunt again. Andrew and Chip traded the lead several times, but every time they went side by side, the field closed right up. On the 3rd last lap, I pushed Chip and myself past Andrew. And on the 2nd last lap I got by Chip to take the lead for the 2nd time.

On the start of the last lap Chip had a great run out of T8 and came from about 8 car lengths back in my draft to make the pass going into T1. I kept as close as I could through the infield with Andrew on my back bumper the whole way, and I was close on Chip’s tail as we exited from T8. Andrew was a few lengths behind me and Alex had been dropped. I closed up to Chip and pushed him as we entered NASCAR 3, and kept in his draft leading onto the main straight where, where, this time, I was able to make the slingshot work. I got it by a few hundredths of a second. Chip was second, Andrew third and Bolanos 4th. Cliffie in 5th, and I think Voytek in 6th.

It was great racing for the drivers and the spectators. We put on quite the show. More than twenty passes for the lead over the two days, without a single contact, and both races being decide by inches! Spectators came down to the pit wall for both races to see the finish. To all the SM drivers out there I think we can pat ourselves on the back. Respectful racing by all, just the way it should be. And we need to extend a big thanks to the T3 and STU drivers who for the most part intentionally stayed out of our way and delayed their passes so that it wouldn’t interfere in our race.

On the other hand the driver of the Pink Supercharged Rabbit needs a good talking to!From my side I was very happy to win the inaugural Florida Winter Tour Championship for the 4 National races (including Sebring), and for those of you who have not done these back-to-back events, I highly recommend making the trip.

Four days of track time at Sebring, 3 days at Homestead, and if you were superman like a few Spec Miata drivers, you also competed in the 6 hours of Sebring with PBOC in the middle. And even if you didn’t, the sun drenched Keys and Miami were a great place to hang out while Atlanta and the rest of the country iced over. Mark it in your calendars for next year. Best escape from a frozen winter that you will ever get.

Hope to see more of you make the trek to Florida next year.

Thanks again to Tom, Tim and Glenn from OMP, Mike from Rossini Racing Engines, and Glen and Ron from Traqmate. You all played a big part in this.